Well, this is going to be a very annoying battlefield, I can already tell. Right now in front of me are three people. Sadly, these three are not going to be so easy to fight. We are pretty close to the blood sacrifice now. The power of the blood sacrifice must empower them. It must be even more than the people that I had just fought. They are not going to be easy to fight.

  At least the demon is busy. Right now he is in the middle of summoning his master it looks like. That is the benefit of striking during a blood sacrifice.

  The only way that a demon cultivator can summon a demon is through a summoning circle. The barrier surrounding the circle must be to protect his underlings. If it was not there, then everybody in the room would be dead.

  Until the sacrifice is complete, the captain can be ignored safely. Breaking the barrier would have pretty disastrous consequences. Even the weakest of demons is not an enemy that I will be able to fight. I will have to leave him till after the summoning is over.

  I don't know how long I have though. Blood sacrifices can be both absurdly short and ridiculously long. Demons are creatures of chaos, you can't tell with them. (Though knowing them it will be on the shorter side.) Well, I will need to get rid of these three before the captain manages to escape. Once he does, I will still be able to fight him.

  "Who are you, half-transformed mutt?", speaks the man behind his barrier. "Soldiers attack him."

  As he speaks, I dodge backward escaping from a blow from one of the soldiers. Let's call him grunt one. I ready my sword blocking another strike from grunt number two.

  Grunt number three is behind both of these soldiers, looking for a point to attack. Tipping my sword a bit forward I cause grunt number two to lose balance as he trips to the ground. Meanwhile, grunt number one is going to be wasting time in turning around.

  Using this time I charge towards grunt number three. He certainly wasn't expecting me to charge towards him. Normally people try to escape from an encirclement not actively go deeper into it. That is why he fumbles as he dodges my strike.

  My sword manages to pierce into his left shoulder, drawing metallic and tangy blood. A moment later the man's vital mana is absorbed by me.

  I am embarrassed to admit it, but this stops me for a few moments. I wasn't expecting so much vital mana from my victim. It is like a mighty raging river where I was expecting a thin stream.

  Grunt number three takes this time to scurry towards its ally. By the time I manage to react to them, the three are already attacking. Thankfully, reacting to situations like this is more instinct than thought. My body moves appropriately.

  I block grunt number one, sidestepping grunt number three and kick grunt number two's face causing him to lose balance again. This time I don't try to orient myself as I press my attack. With my enhanced senses this is harder than I expected it to be.

  Grunt number one manages to react to my attack as he enters into a defensive stance. He blocks my attack before my sword is anywhere near his head. Seriously what magic is powering these bastards? This is quite a bit of a boost.

  Before I manage to dodge, grunt number three manages to get a strike in. It is a gash, though it has already begun to fill in. The flood of life force that is being provided by the other party is enough for this wound to fix itself soon enough. I have never felt the bloody fang work with such strength or efficiency. The fusion spell is already showing its worth.

  Even as I am collecting myself, I retreat. Even as I assume a defensive stance, I can see that the three men are preparing to attack. Grunt number three is not in a good situation, with his skin becoming pale. The way that he is moving though is an indication of his weakness. I don't think he realized just how much damage has already been done to them.

  Whatever mana is empowering them makes them numb to pain it looks like. It is a favorite magic of anybody who makes use of dark magics, especially demons.

  It is an annoying magic to deal with as the underlings keep attacking you. The only benefit is that they won't be lasting for long. I would give grunt number three another minute or so before he would die. I don't think he realizes that is even the case.

  This time I don't give them the chance to think as I charge into their midst. I focus on grunt number two as I finally manage to get a sword into his head. The cost of this is that the other party has managed to get a sword into my chest as well.

  I can feel the heat of the wound, as I smell my blood. It is already congealing and taking on a jelly-like consistency. Still, the injury is not a problem. The blood mana is. The burst of life force that I get from grunt number two hits me like a rampaging bull, almost knocking me off my feet.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I lose focus for a moment, which grunt number one makes use of to strike at my leg. I try to dodge it but the burst of life force is very disorienting. All my senses get ultra-sensitive for a second. I can feel every inch of the sword as it plunges into me, causing a spike of pain that blacks out the world around me.

  Fuck, this is another problem with my transformation. My master has warned me more than once that I should learn to master these overloads or it is going to be the death of me. Normally I can do so, but the fusion spell is more efficient than I expected it to be. This normally much later and with way more difficulty.

  Before grunt number three can also get a strike into me, I manage to dodge him. As I retreat, my senses return to normal. Grunt number three has begun to slow down visibly.

  Grunt number one has begun to retreat slowly and steadily. That is going to make this an easier fight. Well, it is time for me to focus. Get rid of them and then their master.

  (After about a couple of minutes.)

  Well, I have finally managed to kill both of these grunts. Grunt number one died after I hit him five times. He is a bit too hardy for somebody this weak.

  Grunt number two has died a bit more easily, with a sword in his heart. Even as he died, the man couldn't get a strike in, though he did try his best. The mana powering them makes them quite durable.

  Well, as I am doing this, the remaining soldiers on the floor above me have also died. Right now the only two people in this building are me and Steve.

  "You half-transformed mutt, which family has come to hit my lady.", he speaks as I turn towards him.

  The man speaks to me with half a focus. Right now he is still forming sigils, which he is cycling through quite quickly. His hands are dancing as they take on shapes that would have normally broken his hand.

  I am surprised that the demons have enough patience for such a complex summoning spell. (Demons are impatient bastards.) Well, there is something about what he just said that makes me feel weird. Whatever it is, is at the tip of my tongue, if I could just focus a bit more. My head is buzzing from all of the vital mana that I have just absorbed.

  Snaking throughout my body is a patchwork of pains and wounds. I have taken in a decent amount of wounds in this fight. I have taken worse, (nor my sword has ever given me so much blood mana) but the pain is never pleasant.

  "Would you stop calling me a half-converted mutt? I am not a grunt.", I reply, as I begin to cycle my vital mana. I can feel my body stitch itself back. It is going to take a while.

  "Well, why would I make the mistake of calling you a grunt, you damn half-converted mutt.", he replies. "My lady is already stepping into my body. Tell me the name of your master now and I can promise you that you will get a pleasant ending."

  As he speaks, I finally figure out what is wrong here. The insults that the damn bastard is using are something that is used only by vampires meant for vampires. Ones that serve at the court at that. Even if the other party became a vampire by mistake there would be no way that he would know these things. I am sure that he is somebody from the court.

  To give some context, they tend to look down on people like me. Every person that is turned into a vampire grunt takes some time to transform. During this period they are considered to be a half converted mutt. Whenever I activate my sword, I am in a similar situation.

  Wait, why the fuck am I sitting about explaining the fucking insult. The other party is a vampire. I return to focus on the man stuck in the barrier. Now that I know what I am looking for I can see the traces of it.

  The man is pale, with runes inscribed all over his face and hand. The runes of the formation that is acting as his barrier are also familiar to me. I have never studied them but I have seen them quite a few times. The barrier is meant to hold in blood mana. That is the only way that they would be able to power a possession spell.

  That would explain all the corpses that are up there. That is how they must have produced this much blood mana. I had assumed that it was a demon being picky about his food. (If you have seen a demon, you know they don't waste much if they want to eat.)

  That would mean that the circle of formations which I had assumed to be the summoning circle is instead a possession circle. If that is the case, things are going to be pretty shitty soon enough.

  Higher vampires in the court have the ability to possess the body of the lower vampires they create. They make use of certain ritual magics to achieve it I have heard. I have never seen one being possessed until now.

  It is a fascinating process, the little that I can see. I can see the blood mana inside the barrier take the shape of runes that I have never seen in my life. I can't see these runes specifically as they are blurred by the barrier blocking out all outside mana. Still, it is fascinating to see blood mana being manipulated like that. I have never managed to pull off something like that.

  Wait what the fuck am I doing right now. As I am thinking this I can feel the surge of blood mana emanating through the barrier. The mana in there is strong enough that I can smell the metallic scent of blood. As I smell it I realize that no actual blood has been spilled here. This is the blood mana.

  Okay, I can't destroy the barrier now. I am too late for that. If it had been the first thing that I had done, it might have worked. Every time that we have faced a grunt possessed, multiple troops had to get involved in the matter. Even then, it was never an easy fight.

  Whatever magic needed to be cast has already been cast. The mana in the barrier is already beginning to drop. Right now the only option that I have is to run away with my life. I am not sure if I can get away far enough with the time that I have. I have to try though as I run towards the door of this warehouse.

  It is locked from the outside. I cycle my mana fully to try and force the door open. I can feel the damn thing bend in my hands, but I just can't get the damn thing open.

  "A half-converted mutt? Who dares to do such a thing I wonder.", the man behind me speaks. Something is off about how he speaks. There is a certain femininity in the way that he spoke.

  I can't think on this any further, as the world around me becomes black.